As a disabled freelance writer, I’ve spent decades navigating our complex healthcare system. I’ve also immersed myself in meditation, mindful eating, cognitive therapy, hypnotherapy, yoga, and other wellness practices to live well with chronic illness.
I believe it is vital to discuss the pain and marginalization many bodies experience. But also that we should celebrate the health we have, or give ourselves space to live well with chronic illness.
And so as a freelance health and wellness writer, I write features, guides, roundups, and reviews that blend the analytical and emotional. I hope they help you learn, motivate, and find community.
Looking to hire a freelance health or wellness content writer? Learn about my services here. Or get in touch!
Articles & Essays
Meet The Food World's Pilate's Teacher
Food & Wine
Marcia Polas believes “it shouldn’t hurt to do your job.” And she teachers chefs, bartenders, and servers how to use their bodies to their benefit, no matter how long the shift.
How Brunching with Allergies is Getting Better (and how it isn't)
Extra Crispy
Chefs and servers know what the words “gluten” and “lactose” mean nowadays. But does the influx of allergy-aware eaters and staff help or harm those at greatest risk?
What Happens When an All-Star Pastry Chef Kicks White Sugar Out of His Kitchen?
Saveur
When a Crohn’s diagnosis shook up his personal diet, pastry chef Miro Uskokovic reshaped his approach to fine-dining dessert at Gramercy Tavern.
How I Learned to Date With a Chronic Illness
Cosmopolitan
It’s hard to date when your body can betray you at any time. This essay in has chronically sick people reaching out to me to this day.
What You Should Know about Eating Out with Allergies
Serious Eats
Chefs want to feed us. But what should allergy-eaters know about best practices, and how can everyone make sure we’re safe and well-fed?
My Chronic Illness Has Cost Me More Than Just My Health
Cosmopolitan
Relationships shift when parts of the social world become less accessible due to illness. This essay addresses some of this hardship.
Giving Myself a Future by Staying Present
The Reset
After a year exploring habit for The Me, Without, I question the disposability of stuff and humans versus the value of permanence in this essay.
Books
Image: The book cover for Jacqueline Raposo’s The Me Without, black and red font on yellow.
The Me, Without: A Year Exploring Habit, Healing, and Happiness
by Jacqueline Raposo
A cross between case study and memoir, The Me Without explores what happens when we remove habits from our lives to dig deep, reconnect, and rebuild with intention.
Image: The book cover for Sharon Salzberg’s Real Happiness, white font on red.
Real Happiness: A 28-Day Program to Realize the Power of Meditation
by Sharon Salzberg
I contributed research and ghostwriting of new materials to the 10th Anniversary edition of this amazing meditation primer by Sharon Salzberg for Workman Publishing, 2019.
Speaking
Want to host a talk about how to live well with chronic pain and illness?
Kim and Jacqueline caught up in May to discuss the process of getting to know oneself, what to do when you can't feel your feelings, and how to get help when insurance and finances thwart your every effort. As someone living with chronic pain and illness, Jacqueline shares her insights into the experience of the pandemic for those in the chronically ill and disabled communities, urging us to consider the limitations that "Going Back to Normal" entail.
Jacqueline Raposo is an interviewer, podcast producer, food writer and the author of The Me, Without: A Year Exploring Habit, Healing, and Happiness. If you're gonna try going without, feel free to share your journey with Jacqueline and I at @wordsfoodart and @bestadviceshow!
Navigating the dating scene can prove dicey for all of us, but the process is often even more formidable for those living with physical disabilities. Join us to hear how Jacqueline dated—and fell in love!—with chronic illness.
Happiness—it’s about doing all the fantastic, fulfilling, fabulous things, right? Or maybe, it’s about NOT doing all the fantastic, fulfilling, fabulous things! Join us to hear what Jacqueline learned by living without!
Photo: the logo for the podcast Material World
Americans are constantly confronted by sugar. More than half of the nation's people are trying to eat less sugar -- and some are trying to quit altogether. So why is it so hard to tame that sweet tooth? Jenny and Lindsey dig into the ingredients that keep us chomping long past our necessary caloric intake: sugar, salt and fat. Jacqueline Raposo, a food writer and host of the "Love Bites" podcast, talks about the challenges of her month-long pledge to abstain from sugar. New York University's Nutrition and Food Studies Professor Marion Nestle explains why certain tastes appeal. Bestselling author and New York Times investigative reporter Michael Moss and Bloomberg's Craig Giammona speak to the companies that rely on sugar, salt and fat to attract consumers and how Big Food and Big Soda are being forced to change tactics.
Jacqueline began her career as an actress and had to make adjustments due to her illness, but she is evidence of a someone living a beautiful life despite her struggle. Her curiosity for the way we behave and think and feel has manifested into food writing, journalism, lifestyle interview, and podcasting. We discuss her new book, The Me Without, A Year Exploring Healing, Habit, and Happiness and the impact of removing things like social media, sugar, and shopping had on her life.
Image: The logo for Tech Bites on Heritage Radio Network
Could you give up social media for 40 days? When Jacqueline Raposo did, she inadvertently set off a year of progressively shedding her most constant habits, social media, alcohol consumption, negative thought, packaging waste, and more. Raposo’s (@wordsfoodart) recently published book “The Me, Without: A Year Exploring Habit, Healing, and Happiness" follows her path as she removes things from her life, redefines her habit and reframes want versus need
(producer and co-host)
